Biography
Schaefer is a Paris-based multi-disciplinary artist and film director.
His drivingforce is pressuring impulse to capture his current state of mind. In a world
predominantly ruled by color images, Schaefer seeks avenues of escape and expression through the visual aesthetics of black and white photography.
Exploring intimacy, sensitivity, and abstraction, his images challenge the false
preconception that black and white photography is outdated and less expressive.Â
The photographer puts the color black at the heart of his work, using it as a central component to his visual messaging. Black, as the absence of color and absorption of light, the signifier of evil, death, and fear, is newly interpreted in creative ways. Schaefer overturns the binary of black and white to create a sophisticated system of new meanings throughout the images - black acquires vulnerability and softness, becoming the site of a new entanglement of representation.
The series of mostly black and white compositions feel vulnerable, otherworldly and create a vision of seductive allure. Schaefer is not interested in technical perfection; he is intrigued instead by spontaneity and imprecision. The element of mistake is fundamental in all his creative endeavors. Beyond photography, Schaefer is also a drawer and sculpture and uses his holistic understanding of art to inform his photographic choices and evocative storytelling. Charcoal drawing is an experimental practice and vessel for his imagination.
Selected commercial clients:
Chanel, Armani Beauty, HermĂšs, La Prairie, Adidas Y-3, Victoria Beckham
Beauty, COS
Selected publications:
British Vogue, Beauty Papers, Document Journal, Dazed Beauty, Exhibition
Magazine, Le Monde dâHermĂšs, Pan & the Dream Magazine, Sixteen Journal,
Carcy Magazine